August 9, 2013

Art Nalls and the Sea Harrier at the Chicago Air and Water Show

Think you will miss out on the roar of jets this year at the Chicago Air & Water Show? Think again. Art Nalls plans to pilot the fastest aircraft in the 2013 Chicago Air & Water Show, the Sea Harrier FA2. Nalls shared with me what we can expect from his Harrier demonstration. "My demo is slightly different from the USMC Harrier demo. First, I'm a bit faster. I can easily reach over 600 knots in my first pass, which is over 700 mph. The Marines can't go quite that fast". Nalls continued, "Second, I'm licensed as an aerobatic pilot, while the Marines are not. I plan to do rolls, Cuban 8's, 4-point aileron rolls, as well as the Hover. In the hover, I will back up, go sideways, and pirouette the airplane in the hover. Providing the winds are within very tight limitations, I will also "Bow to the Crowd" which is to point the nose of the airplane toward the crowd, and point the nose down to approximately 45 degrees."

Built by Hawker-Siddley, hist Sea Harrier was the second one ever built and is the oldest surviving one. Those at Show Center will be able to see the V/STOL, Vertical and or Short Take-off and Landing capabilities of this unique aircraft. Nalls is the only person in the world to privately own an airworthy Sea Harrier. A U.S Naval Academy graduate, Nalls logged over 900 hours in the AV-8A variant of the Harrier including over 400 shipboard landings. Nalls is also a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base. He has flight time in approximately 75 different aircraft including the B-52, C-141, C-130, A-7, A-37, T-38, F-4, F-5, F-15, and F-16, and F-18. When the opportunity to own a Sea Harrier came available he jumped at it and has been showing off the aircraft since.

In addition to showing off the performance of the Sea Harrier, Nalls will be bringing a Czechoslovakian Advanced Jet Trainer, the L-39 Albatross to demonstrate as well. He or a fellow pilot, Joe Anderson, will be showing off this aircraft during the show. The L-39 quickly became one of my favorite aircraft when I had the chance to spend an hour with Gauntlet Warbirds (Aurora, IL) in their L-39 performing aerobatics. Greg Morris of Gauntlet Warbirds explained, "After entering production in 1972 the L-39 had great success as a jet trainer and light attack aircraft throughout the world, at one point being used by nearly forty air forces. It is still flown by numerous militaries including Russia, Ukraine, Thailand, the Czech Republic, and Egypt." The aircraft has a maximum speed of 490 knots (.8 mach).

Although sequestration will prevent active military aircraft from performing at the 2013 Chicago Air & Water Show you can still expect to hear a few jets roaring overhead Chicago.

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